I got it off, finally. And rather amusingly, after all that, it seems that rubber part on mine is actually fine. Haha, oh well. :)

In that case, what the actual problem was is a complete mystery. In taking it all apart, I got up close and personal with the entire machine, and there was absolutely no scale, no obstructions, and no visible problem with anything. Maybe the electronic part that drove the solenoid went bad, or something.

Yeah, I saw your posts and also suspect we're experiencing the same issue. I may even void my warranty by opening it up and taking photos. I hate dealing with incredulous support people and returns, and if this is a common issue, it needs to be documented.

I've owned the Brazen since Feburary. This morning I looked into the reservoir for the first time and noticed a lot of mineral build up. Similar to the build up you see on he Behmor web site..... I know my water isn't the best, yet I have never used a filter. The TDS in my area is 229.

Months ago I had the issue where it wouldn't empty completely. I didn't notice any mineral build up, so I didn't descale. I did invert it in the sink and spray water into it with the hose, and that cleared up the issue.

Even though i didn't have a drainage issue, this morning I descaled it for a couple hours with Dezcal. The reservoir looks like new, and it drains in 3 minutes.

I know a lot of people are critical of this brewer. Most of the reviews of this brewer here, and lately on seattlecoffeegear.com, are extremely negative - obviously those reviews are from the same people. And I know some users have a right to be disappointed.

Yet, I would like to put in some positive input. I love this thing. It makes an amazing pot of coffee. In the old days, I would pick up a bag of coffee and see flavor and aroma notes like vanilla, toffee, chocolate - and never get this..... Until I bought this brewer. Some coffee beans I use 55g with 198....,others 62g with 202...,, it's all part of the fun of owning this brewer. And it has always made an amazing pot of coffee.

So I feel bad for all those that are disappointed with the Brazen. However, Not all of the units are bad, not all of them require special beans, water filtration or regular descaling. And I've had to learn how to pour without making a huge mess.

I know there are users out there in love with this brewer..... Lets hear it !

I've had mine for 8 months and have had incomplete drainage issues from time to time. Inverted spraying and drilling a hole in the lid to eliminate vapor lock have so far been effective, along with filtered or softened water. The incomplete emptying only shows up with a full pot, not with the 16 oz portions I usually brew, so I'm willing to use the Brazen for small batches only if it comes to that.

The Brazen is not a coffee maker, it is a precision coffee brewing instrument. As such, it is high maintenance. and you have to be seriously into coffee fussing to put up with it. Also, being a new product from a small company, it is not unexpected for it to have design/production glitches.

Admittedly, I'm a coffee "fusser," a home roaster, Technivorm owner, etc. Since I don't work I've got plenty of time to fiddle around with this thing. For those who simply want a good cup of coffee with a minimum of effort, it may not yet be the best solution.

That said, the Brazen produces the best coffee I have ever had and I'm willing to put up with a few issues. I don't expect it to be as durable as the Technivorm, but if it lasts me two years I'd buy another one.

True, but then I've seen that with many products on internet sites. Almost any forum with users posting about gizmos is littered with unhappy folks looking for a place to express displeasure. It's really difficult to accurately gauge failure rates. It does seem fair to say the Brazen is unusually sensitive to water hardness and particulate accumulation, and likely requires more care and maintenance than auto drip machine users are used to. The valve failure rate may be low, normal, or very high, we don't know. Longevity at this point is also totally unknown. What many of us do know is that it's in a class by itself for home drip brewers. It's absolutely raised the bar by several notches, and I wouldn't be suprised if a company like Bonavita responds (pure speculation). I for one could never be happy again with a one temp brewer. The next couple of years will be interesting.

I'd like to chime in with my Brazen review: I bought my machine in October 2012 and up until now it has performed flawlessly every morning. About a week ago the reservoir stopped emptying completely. I tried descaling it per instructions, which did not fix the problem. Inverting over the sink and spraying it seemed to do the trick. It has worked fine up until this morning. Once again a spraying over the sink seems to have fixed the problem. I tried shining a flashlight and gently probing near the screen, but cannot see anything at all out of the ordinary. I enjoy the coffee the Brazen makes, I just hope that my problem went away.

I try to time my morning routine and if the Brazen doesn't work I won't have time to try again. I think I may try and work in a over the sink spraying every couple of days, just to be proactive. For me, this machine is worth the fuss, as long as spraying it is all I need to do to fix the issue.

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